Shared Parental Leave to Include Grandparents
There has been a recent announcement that the shared parental leave legislation is to be extended to include grandparents by 2018. The aim is to increase the flexibility and choice for working parents during the first year of a child’s life.
The Government believes nearly 2 million grandparents have had some sort of impact on their working lives in order to help families struggling with childcare costs. And around 7 million grandparents are involved in childcare for children under the age of sixteen.
George Osborne made the announcement on the 5th of October, and consultation on the details is planned for the first half of next year.
Shared Parental Leave and Pay
The Shared Parental Leave (SPL) and Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) rules are not straightforward. Employees can take up to three separate blocks of SPL, and SPL becomes available when they end their maternity or adoption leave or pay early.
Eligibility for SPL and ShPP can be calculated following the government guidelines and it is possible only one parent will be eligible. The current rate of ShPP is £139.58 per week, or 90% of an employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower.
You may find a few further details about SPL and ShPP leave here, but we believe for now each employer has to approach each request on an individual basis, and uptake is likely to be low.
